The Sea Level Did, in Fact, Rise Faster in the Southeast U.S.

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

The Sea Level Did, in Fact, Rise Faster in the Southeast U.S.

By JUSTIN GILLIS AUG. 9, 2017

For people in the southeastern United States, and especially in Florida, who feel that annoying tidal flooding has sneaked up on them in recent years, it turns out to be true. And scientists have a new explanation.

In a paper published online Wednesday, University of Florida researchers calculated that from 2011 to 2015, the sea level along the American coastline south of Cape Hatteras rose six times faster than the long-term rate of global increase.

“I said, ‘That’s crazy!’” Andrea Dutton, one of the researchers, recalled saying when a colleague first showed her the figures. “‘You must have done something wrong!’”

But it was correct. During that period of rapid increase, many people in Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and other coastal communities started to notice unusual “sunny-day flooding,” a foot or two of salt water inundating their streets at high tide for no apparent reason.

In the paper, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the scientists proposed a mechanism to explain the rapid increase: Two large-scale atmospheric patterns had intersected to push up the water off the Southeast coast, causing a “hot spot” of sea-level rise.

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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/climate/the-sea-level-did-in-fact-rise-faster-in-the-southeast-us.html

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Related: Spatial and temporal variability of sea-level rise hotspots over the eastern United States (Geophysical Research Letters)

[Stargazer99]

1. global warming

the gop will tell you there is no such thing

[Igel]

2. Perhaps.

But in this case it could just be two phenomena that vary lining up for a few years.

If there's a high pressure system over the ocean it'll lower water levels; if high pressure, it'll raise them.

[raccoon]

3. How was that again? Nt